Revelation #2

Revelation 1:4-5



4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:



Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood



As we continue on today in our Revelation study please remember to open them Bibles! In verse 4 we start out by being reminded that John is penning these words. These verses today are part of the greeting to the seven churches that are in Roman Asia. Seven is a number of completeness in the Bible so this means he is addressing the whole church. John give us a greeting from God who is the "him" in verse 4. Remember Exodus 3:14 here:



Exodus 3:14



14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"



and also Jesus in Hebrews 13:8:

Hebrews 13:8



8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.



The seven in verse 4 refer to the the complete Holy Spirit....remember seven means complete. In the book of Isaiah the seven qualities of the Holy Spirit are listed:



Isaiah 11:2



2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.



The greeting also comes from Jesus. The it lists some characteristics of Jesus..."faithful witness" of all things from God since Jesus has always been! "the first born of the dead" refers to Jesus being the first resurrected from the dead. "the ruler of kings on earth" reminds us that Jesus in King of kings and Lord of lords and one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess this fact!



Verse 5 closes by reminding us of a very important truth HE LOVES US and has proved that love by freeing us from our sins by shedding His blood on the cross for our sins! Oh thank you Jesus!



Wow this is some good stuff to grasp onto! To God be the glory!



Tom